Athletic Bilbao confirmed their place in the Champions League proper after coming from a goal down to beat Napoli 3-1 on Wednesday evening. Aduríz took advantage of some shaky defending to score twice, and Ibai Gómez added a third to prevent any late surprises. The following day Villarreal made it through to the league stage of the Europa League, beating Kazakhstan’s Astana 4-0 with a brace from new boy Vietto, a Bruno penalty and a strike from youngster Nahuel. Real Sociedad crashed out of the competition though after they were humiliatingly beaten 3-0 by Russia’s FC Krasnodar.

A few more goals this weekend than on the opening day, but still below thirty for the ten games. Six of those were at Anoeta, where Sergio Ramos and Bale put Real Madrid two up in ten minutes, but then four from hosts Real Sociedad, including two from Zurutuza, turned the scoreline around. Barcelona lead the table in solitary, Sandro (another of their talented youngsters) getting the only goal in a 0-1 victory at Villarreal, and Atlético clocked up their first league win of the season, Mandzukic on target in a narrower than expected 2-1 win over Eibar. Rayo’s Alberto Bueno was the only other player to score more than once this weekend, the striker netting twice in a 2-2 draw at Deportivo, and elsewhere Orellana got his second in consecutive matches for Celta, and Aduríz and Muniain were on the scoresheet again as Athletic beat Levante 3-0. (02.09.14)